Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.

Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.

Tuesday, February 14, 2023
LEAF Retreat Theme Announced “Legends Of The Americas” Early Bird Tickets
Feb 14 all-day
online

Everywhere across this great land, we see, hear and feel impressions of the peoples that once cultivated it. In this year’s Spring Retreat, we will uplift and honor First Nations, Indigenous & LatinX peoples as a precursor to our Fall Festival, and honor our own community leaders. We also have a yearly focus on Health: mental, physical & emotional wellbeing. It is a time of rejoicing and celebrating those that came before us. A rekindling of the wisdom passed down through generations; a time of honoring beautiful legacies, stories and traditions. Please join as we enter a world of learning through the eyes of the greats, this May 11-14th at LEAF Retreat!

*Limited Tickets at Each Tier. So Buy Quick for best discounts & to secure YOUR ticket*

Sliding Scale Pricing for Spring Conference 2023
Feb 14 all-day
online

Screen Shot 2023-01-19 at 2.09.44 PM

For the past 30 years, the Organic Growers School Spring Conference has served as a gathering place for growers in Appalachia to connect, learn from one another, and deepen connections to land and community. The Spring Conference began as an entirely volunteer-run and free event and has expanded to support an organization of ten staff with year-round programming. As we have grown, we have experimented with different approaches to keeping the event affordable and accessible while also working on compensation for our speakers and supporting our growing staff. We encourage you to check out our recent blog post exploring this in more depth. This year, we are excited to be experimenting with sliding scale ticket pricing for the first time, and we wanted to take some time to explain how this works and why we decided to implement it this year.

Looking beyond scholarships

Over the past several years, we have started implementing different scholarship options. We have set aside around $3000 in our internal budget for scholarships, and we have increased our outreach to other groups in the area who have funding to support individuals to attend conferences. We also offer work-trade opportunities for people who are interested in helping out with our event in exchange for attendance. We have around 100 work-traders access the conference each year through these opportunities, but we have never used up our entire scholarship fund for the event. We know that there are many individuals in our community that we are not reaching through our scholarship opportunities. We began to wonder if scholarship applications were creating a barrier to participation and started researching other options, landing eventually on sliding scale as our preferred model.

How alternative pricing models address accessibility

The sliding scale model, which offers the opportunity for participants to select a price to pay for their ticket, meets several of the parameters we were looking for in an accessible pricing model. Most importantly, it is a seamless way for attendees to access the price that meets their needs. So many things are means-tested in our society, and it can be exhausting to justify why one needs a more affordable price point. While many of our community members need financial support, there are also members of this community who have more than enough to share and are excited about supporting their fellow co-learners. These attendees can select the higher end of the sliding scale, which will be set at a price to offset the lower price paid by other attendees. We trust our attendees to select the option that best works for them while also considering how their selection would affect the ability of other participants to access a lower price point.

Accessibility is a priority for OGS, and implementing it is a risk for us as a small non-profit, given that we rely on our large events like the Spring Conference to support our year-round programming and staff salaries. This will certainly be an experimental year, and if we are not able to secure enough income through sliding-scale registrations, we will have to rethink our approach to pricing. We trust that our community will be thoughtful in thinking about the value that this conference has to them and about what they are able to pay for at this time. Thank you for being on this journey of discovery with us!

 

Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Gardening Video: Garden Conifers and Evergreens
Feb 15 all-day
online

Presenter: Bruce Appeldoorn – Appeldoorn Landscape Nursery

Bruce Appeldoorn, a life-long nurseryman and the owner of Appeldoorn Landscape Nursery, will share with us some of the best conifers for Western North Carolina gardens. You will see his favorite low-maintenance, long-lived choices based on his 45 years of nursery experience.

LEAF Retreat Theme Announced “Legends Of The Americas” Early Bird Tickets
Feb 15 all-day
online

Everywhere across this great land, we see, hear and feel impressions of the peoples that once cultivated it. In this year’s Spring Retreat, we will uplift and honor First Nations, Indigenous & LatinX peoples as a precursor to our Fall Festival, and honor our own community leaders. We also have a yearly focus on Health: mental, physical & emotional wellbeing. It is a time of rejoicing and celebrating those that came before us. A rekindling of the wisdom passed down through generations; a time of honoring beautiful legacies, stories and traditions. Please join as we enter a world of learning through the eyes of the greats, this May 11-14th at LEAF Retreat!

*Limited Tickets at Each Tier. So Buy Quick for best discounts & to secure YOUR ticket*

Sliding Scale Pricing for Spring Conference 2023
Feb 15 all-day
online

Screen Shot 2023-01-19 at 2.09.44 PM

For the past 30 years, the Organic Growers School Spring Conference has served as a gathering place for growers in Appalachia to connect, learn from one another, and deepen connections to land and community. The Spring Conference began as an entirely volunteer-run and free event and has expanded to support an organization of ten staff with year-round programming. As we have grown, we have experimented with different approaches to keeping the event affordable and accessible while also working on compensation for our speakers and supporting our growing staff. We encourage you to check out our recent blog post exploring this in more depth. This year, we are excited to be experimenting with sliding scale ticket pricing for the first time, and we wanted to take some time to explain how this works and why we decided to implement it this year.

Looking beyond scholarships

Over the past several years, we have started implementing different scholarship options. We have set aside around $3000 in our internal budget for scholarships, and we have increased our outreach to other groups in the area who have funding to support individuals to attend conferences. We also offer work-trade opportunities for people who are interested in helping out with our event in exchange for attendance. We have around 100 work-traders access the conference each year through these opportunities, but we have never used up our entire scholarship fund for the event. We know that there are many individuals in our community that we are not reaching through our scholarship opportunities. We began to wonder if scholarship applications were creating a barrier to participation and started researching other options, landing eventually on sliding scale as our preferred model.

How alternative pricing models address accessibility

The sliding scale model, which offers the opportunity for participants to select a price to pay for their ticket, meets several of the parameters we were looking for in an accessible pricing model. Most importantly, it is a seamless way for attendees to access the price that meets their needs. So many things are means-tested in our society, and it can be exhausting to justify why one needs a more affordable price point. While many of our community members need financial support, there are also members of this community who have more than enough to share and are excited about supporting their fellow co-learners. These attendees can select the higher end of the sliding scale, which will be set at a price to offset the lower price paid by other attendees. We trust our attendees to select the option that best works for them while also considering how their selection would affect the ability of other participants to access a lower price point.

Accessibility is a priority for OGS, and implementing it is a risk for us as a small non-profit, given that we rely on our large events like the Spring Conference to support our year-round programming and staff salaries. This will certainly be an experimental year, and if we are not able to secure enough income through sliding-scale registrations, we will have to rethink our approach to pricing. We trust that our community will be thoughtful in thinking about the value that this conference has to them and about what they are able to pay for at this time. Thank you for being on this journey of discovery with us!

 

The Learning Garden: A Hub of Gardening Education in 2023
Feb 15 all-day
Buncombe County Extension Office

After six years of hard work, the dream of using The Learning Garden as a hub for public gardening education is finally a reality. The Learning Garden, located at the Extension Office, 49 Mt. Carmel Road, is offering the public the opportunity to Visit and Learn in the garden on selected 2nd and 4th Thursdays, February – October. The Thursday in-person programs will consist of five garden-specific series. Visitors can walk around before or after the program and soak in our lovely gardens. Our gardens will open at 9:00 a.m. and all the demonstration programs run between 10-11:30 a.m.  To ensure a good learning experience, attendance will be limited and registration will be required.

Dahlia_labbradolci_CC BY-NC 2.0_Flickr

Dahlia Series
February 23
 – Getting Your Dahlias Ready for Planting
August 3
 – Disbudding Dahlias for Better Blooms
October 26 – Dividing and Storing Dahlias

 

Naturally dyed cotton_by Lucia Garcia Gonzalez_CC 1.0_Flickr

Dye Garden Series
May 4 – Planning Your Dye Garden
June 22 – Introduction to Natural Dyeing
July 27 – Fresh Indigo
August 24 – Botanical Printing: Printing with Leaves and Flowers
September 28 – Dyeing with Hopi Black Sunflower
November 9 – The Magic of Indigo

Rose Garden Series
March 9 – Pruning Roses
April 6 – Climbing Roses
April 13 – Rose Pests and Pathogens
May 20 – Growing Beautiful Roses (Saturday Seminar)

 

Sun & Shade Garden Series
May 11 – Planting a Native Butterfly Host Plant Garden
June 29 – Foodscaping Edible Plants in Flower Beds
August 31 – Dealing with “the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” Plants
Sept 14 – Native Butterfly Life Cycles in the Fall Garden

 

Vegetable Garden Series
March 23
 – Building an ADA Compliant Raised Garden
April 26
 – Planting Root Crops: Leeks, Onions, Carrots, Parsnips
May 25 – Planting a Seed Saving Garden
June 8 – Common Vegetable Garden Pests
July 13 – Kid Friendly Gardening
                                       August 10 – Preserving Your Vegetable Harvest

In addition to the Thursday programs listed above, The Learning Garden will present a series of ninety minute (+/-) hands-on seminars covering various gardening topics. These in-person programs will be held at The Learning Garden on selected Saturday mornings, February – September.

Saturday Seminars
February 18 – Tool Selection and Sharpening
March 18 – Pruning Trees and Shrubs
April 22 – Gardening for the Birds
May 20 – Growing Beautiful Roses
June 17 – Pollinator Plants in The Learning Garden
September 16 – Bulbs for All Seasons

Each of the programs in The Learning Garden will be announced individually through this blog and on our website two weeks before each program.  Each announcement will include instructions on how to register. Mark your calendar and register to attend as many as you can.

Thursday, February 16, 2023
Gardening Video: Cool Cover Crops
Feb 16 all-day
online

 

 

Flowering Buckwheat

 

Gardening in the Mountains presents:
Cool Cover Crops

Presenter: John Bowen, Extension Master Gardener VolunteerSM

Master Gardener and long time cover cropper John Bowen will help you pick a cover to match your needs, space and schedule.  He will discuss the pros and cons of several crop choices for WNC gardens and help you make a plan to maximize the benefits of creative cover crops.

Video access:
To access this video on the Buncombe County Master Gardener website, click on the link below:

                                                                           Cool Cover Crops

Or go to www.buncombemastergardener.org , click on the ‘Gardening Videos’ tab at the top of the page, and select the video from the list provided.

Gardening Video: Garden Conifers and Evergreens
Feb 16 all-day
online

Presenter: Bruce Appeldoorn – Appeldoorn Landscape Nursery

Bruce Appeldoorn, a life-long nurseryman and the owner of Appeldoorn Landscape Nursery, will share with us some of the best conifers for Western North Carolina gardens. You will see his favorite low-maintenance, long-lived choices based on his 45 years of nursery experience.

Journeyperson Program NOW FREE! 12-Month Farm Support Cohort
Feb 16 all-day
Organic Growers School

The upcoming Journeyperson course is now available AT NO COST! Due to some timely grant funding, we can offer this in-depth farmer training for farmers in years 3-7 with no associated tuition fee! The course consists of monthly cohort meet-ups and 2-3 in-depth workshops, plus mentorship!

 

In addition, a select number of participants will also receive matched FUNDS for your farm savings account (Savings Incentive Program) and money to spend on a professional development opportunity of your choosing! Want to attend a workshop on livestock management? OGS will contribute towards that fee! Are you saving money for a farm asset? OGS will contribute up to a certain amount to that investment.

 

The Journeyperson Program is for farmers who have been independently farming for three or more years and are serious about operating farm businesses in the Southern Appalachian region.

Join the Journeyperson Info Session on Zoom!

November 15th at 7:00 pm

Sign up here

Sliding Scale Pricing for Spring Conference 2023
Feb 16 all-day
online

Screen Shot 2023-01-19 at 2.09.44 PM

For the past 30 years, the Organic Growers School Spring Conference has served as a gathering place for growers in Appalachia to connect, learn from one another, and deepen connections to land and community. The Spring Conference began as an entirely volunteer-run and free event and has expanded to support an organization of ten staff with year-round programming. As we have grown, we have experimented with different approaches to keeping the event affordable and accessible while also working on compensation for our speakers and supporting our growing staff. We encourage you to check out our recent blog post exploring this in more depth. This year, we are excited to be experimenting with sliding scale ticket pricing for the first time, and we wanted to take some time to explain how this works and why we decided to implement it this year.

Looking beyond scholarships

Over the past several years, we have started implementing different scholarship options. We have set aside around $3000 in our internal budget for scholarships, and we have increased our outreach to other groups in the area who have funding to support individuals to attend conferences. We also offer work-trade opportunities for people who are interested in helping out with our event in exchange for attendance. We have around 100 work-traders access the conference each year through these opportunities, but we have never used up our entire scholarship fund for the event. We know that there are many individuals in our community that we are not reaching through our scholarship opportunities. We began to wonder if scholarship applications were creating a barrier to participation and started researching other options, landing eventually on sliding scale as our preferred model.

How alternative pricing models address accessibility

The sliding scale model, which offers the opportunity for participants to select a price to pay for their ticket, meets several of the parameters we were looking for in an accessible pricing model. Most importantly, it is a seamless way for attendees to access the price that meets their needs. So many things are means-tested in our society, and it can be exhausting to justify why one needs a more affordable price point. While many of our community members need financial support, there are also members of this community who have more than enough to share and are excited about supporting their fellow co-learners. These attendees can select the higher end of the sliding scale, which will be set at a price to offset the lower price paid by other attendees. We trust our attendees to select the option that best works for them while also considering how their selection would affect the ability of other participants to access a lower price point.

Accessibility is a priority for OGS, and implementing it is a risk for us as a small non-profit, given that we rely on our large events like the Spring Conference to support our year-round programming and staff salaries. This will certainly be an experimental year, and if we are not able to secure enough income through sliding-scale registrations, we will have to rethink our approach to pricing. We trust that our community will be thoughtful in thinking about the value that this conference has to them and about what they are able to pay for at this time. Thank you for being on this journey of discovery with us!

 

Gardening in the Mountains: Fruit Trees for Home Gardens
Feb 16 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am
online

FREE Virtual Event

Presenter: Craig Mauney, Extension Area Specialized Agent, Fruit and Vegetables

Fruit trees are a home garden favorite, and it’s challenging to grow good fruit in our WNC environment. It helps to carefully select smaller, more disease-resistant varieties and consider more unusual fruit like Asian pears, sour cherries, mulberries and pawpaws. Our Presenter,Craig Mauney, is an Extension Area Specialized Agent for fruit production in our Western counties. He has years of experience growing small fruits in his own home landscape, and you’re sure to learn something new to help you grow those little gems of flavor.

Registration: The talk is free but registration is required. Please click on the link below to register. If you encounter problems registering or if you have questions, call 828-255-5522.

Zoom seminar access: After registration, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to join this online live broadcast via Zoom. The ability to access Zoom through a computer, tablet or smartphone with a reliable internet connection is necessary to attend.

Online Seminar: Fruit Trees for Home Gardens
Feb 16 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am
online

Gardening in the Mountains presents:
Fruit Trees for Home Gardens

 

Virtual attendance via Zoom video and audio internet connection

Presenter: Craig Mauney – NC Cooperative Extension Agent

Fruit trees are a home garden favorite, and it’s challenging to grow good fruit in our WNC environment. It helps to carefully select smaller, more disease-resistant varieties and consider more unusual fruit like Asian pears, sour cherries, mulberries, and pawpaws.

Our presenter, Craig Mauney, is an Extension Area Specialized Agent for commercial vegetable and fruit production in our western counties. He has years of experience growing small fruits in his own home landscape, and you’re sure to learn something new to help you grow those little gems of flavor.

Registration: The talk is free but registration is required. Please click on the link below to register. If you encounter problems registering or if you have questions, call 828-255-5522.

Zoom seminar access: After registration, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to join this online live broadcast via Zoom. The ability to access Zoom through a computer, tablet or smartphone with a reliable internet connection is necessary to attend.

LIFE IN THE MOUNTAINS-Spring Ephemerals, Mosses, and Ferns
Feb 16 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Bullington Gardens, Inc.

LIFE IN THE MOUNTAINS

Join us for our winter class series with Steve Pettis, Henderson County Commercial and Consumer Horticulture Agent, host of the Gardening in the Mountains radio show, and your guide to the plants of our unique mountain landscape. Friends of Bullington take 25% off the regular course fee!

In this class Steve will introduce you to the many short-lived springtime flowers as well as several mosses and ferns that grow in the forests of Western North Carolina. He will discuss the plants’ biology, their pollinators, and some of the interesting history of these special plants.

LIFE IN THE MOUNTAINS-Spring Ephemerals, Mosses, and Ferns
Feb 16 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Bullington Gardens, Inc.

LIFE IN THE MOUNTAINS

Join us for our winter class series with Steve Pettis, Henderson County Commercial and Consumer Horticulture Agent, host of the Gardening in the Mountains radio show, and your guide to the plants of our unique mountain landscape. Friends of Bullington take 25% off the regular course fee!

In this class Steve will introduce you to the many short-lived springtime flowers as well as several mosses and ferns that grow in the forests of Western North Carolina. He will discuss the plants’ biology, their pollinators, and some of the interesting history of these special plants.

Try Tai Chi @ the Weaverville Library!
Feb 16 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Weaverville Public Library

Try Tai Chi at the Weaverville Library!

Learn more about the gentle art of Tai Chi. These Thursday PM sessions are suitable for beginners and regular practitioners alike.  You may join at any point in the series.  Come as often as you are able.  No pre-registration is necessary. All ages are welcome. Children must have adult partners participating.  Come try Tai Chi!

This is a partnership program with Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi and the Friends of the Weaverville Library. 

The Basics of Growing Fruits + Berries
Feb 16 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
N.C. Cooperative Extension

The Extension Gardener Training classes are open to anyone wanting to learn more about good gardening practices in Zone 7 based on research-based information. A new topic will be discussed each week during the series. You may join us for each of the six topics or you can choose which topics interest you.

 

Friday, February 17, 2023
Gardening Video: Cool Cover Crops
Feb 17 all-day
online

 

 

Flowering Buckwheat

 

Gardening in the Mountains presents:
Cool Cover Crops

Presenter: John Bowen, Extension Master Gardener VolunteerSM

Master Gardener and long time cover cropper John Bowen will help you pick a cover to match your needs, space and schedule.  He will discuss the pros and cons of several crop choices for WNC gardens and help you make a plan to maximize the benefits of creative cover crops.

Video access:
To access this video on the Buncombe County Master Gardener website, click on the link below:

                                                                           Cool Cover Crops

Or go to www.buncombemastergardener.org , click on the ‘Gardening Videos’ tab at the top of the page, and select the video from the list provided.

Gardening Video: Garden Conifers and Evergreens
Feb 17 all-day
online

Presenter: Bruce Appeldoorn – Appeldoorn Landscape Nursery

Bruce Appeldoorn, a life-long nurseryman and the owner of Appeldoorn Landscape Nursery, will share with us some of the best conifers for Western North Carolina gardens. You will see his favorite low-maintenance, long-lived choices based on his 45 years of nursery experience.

Sliding Scale Pricing for Spring Conference 2023
Feb 17 all-day
online

Screen Shot 2023-01-19 at 2.09.44 PM

For the past 30 years, the Organic Growers School Spring Conference has served as a gathering place for growers in Appalachia to connect, learn from one another, and deepen connections to land and community. The Spring Conference began as an entirely volunteer-run and free event and has expanded to support an organization of ten staff with year-round programming. As we have grown, we have experimented with different approaches to keeping the event affordable and accessible while also working on compensation for our speakers and supporting our growing staff. We encourage you to check out our recent blog post exploring this in more depth. This year, we are excited to be experimenting with sliding scale ticket pricing for the first time, and we wanted to take some time to explain how this works and why we decided to implement it this year.

Looking beyond scholarships

Over the past several years, we have started implementing different scholarship options. We have set aside around $3000 in our internal budget for scholarships, and we have increased our outreach to other groups in the area who have funding to support individuals to attend conferences. We also offer work-trade opportunities for people who are interested in helping out with our event in exchange for attendance. We have around 100 work-traders access the conference each year through these opportunities, but we have never used up our entire scholarship fund for the event. We know that there are many individuals in our community that we are not reaching through our scholarship opportunities. We began to wonder if scholarship applications were creating a barrier to participation and started researching other options, landing eventually on sliding scale as our preferred model.

How alternative pricing models address accessibility

The sliding scale model, which offers the opportunity for participants to select a price to pay for their ticket, meets several of the parameters we were looking for in an accessible pricing model. Most importantly, it is a seamless way for attendees to access the price that meets their needs. So many things are means-tested in our society, and it can be exhausting to justify why one needs a more affordable price point. While many of our community members need financial support, there are also members of this community who have more than enough to share and are excited about supporting their fellow co-learners. These attendees can select the higher end of the sliding scale, which will be set at a price to offset the lower price paid by other attendees. We trust our attendees to select the option that best works for them while also considering how their selection would affect the ability of other participants to access a lower price point.

Accessibility is a priority for OGS, and implementing it is a risk for us as a small non-profit, given that we rely on our large events like the Spring Conference to support our year-round programming and staff salaries. This will certainly be an experimental year, and if we are not able to secure enough income through sliding-scale registrations, we will have to rethink our approach to pricing. We trust that our community will be thoughtful in thinking about the value that this conference has to them and about what they are able to pay for at this time. Thank you for being on this journey of discovery with us!

 

The Learning Garden: A Hub of Gardening Education in 2023
Feb 17 all-day
Buncombe County Extension Office

After six years of hard work, the dream of using The Learning Garden as a hub for public gardening education is finally a reality. The Learning Garden, located at the Extension Office, 49 Mt. Carmel Road, is offering the public the opportunity to Visit and Learn in the garden on selected 2nd and 4th Thursdays, February – October. The Thursday in-person programs will consist of five garden-specific series. Visitors can walk around before or after the program and soak in our lovely gardens. Our gardens will open at 9:00 a.m. and all the demonstration programs run between 10-11:30 a.m.  To ensure a good learning experience, attendance will be limited and registration will be required.

Dahlia_labbradolci_CC BY-NC 2.0_Flickr

Dahlia Series
February 23
 – Getting Your Dahlias Ready for Planting
August 3
 – Disbudding Dahlias for Better Blooms
October 26 – Dividing and Storing Dahlias

 

Naturally dyed cotton_by Lucia Garcia Gonzalez_CC 1.0_Flickr

Dye Garden Series
May 4 – Planning Your Dye Garden
June 22 – Introduction to Natural Dyeing
July 27 – Fresh Indigo
August 24 – Botanical Printing: Printing with Leaves and Flowers
September 28 – Dyeing with Hopi Black Sunflower
November 9 – The Magic of Indigo

Rose Garden Series
March 9 – Pruning Roses
April 6 – Climbing Roses
April 13 – Rose Pests and Pathogens
May 20 – Growing Beautiful Roses (Saturday Seminar)

 

Sun & Shade Garden Series
May 11 – Planting a Native Butterfly Host Plant Garden
June 29 – Foodscaping Edible Plants in Flower Beds
August 31 – Dealing with “the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” Plants
Sept 14 – Native Butterfly Life Cycles in the Fall Garden

 

Vegetable Garden Series
March 23
 – Building an ADA Compliant Raised Garden
April 26
 – Planting Root Crops: Leeks, Onions, Carrots, Parsnips
May 25 – Planting a Seed Saving Garden
June 8 – Common Vegetable Garden Pests
July 13 – Kid Friendly Gardening
                                       August 10 – Preserving Your Vegetable Harvest

In addition to the Thursday programs listed above, The Learning Garden will present a series of ninety minute (+/-) hands-on seminars covering various gardening topics. These in-person programs will be held at The Learning Garden on selected Saturday mornings, February – September.

Saturday Seminars
February 18 – Tool Selection and Sharpening
March 18 – Pruning Trees and Shrubs
April 22 – Gardening for the Birds
May 20 – Growing Beautiful Roses
June 17 – Pollinator Plants in The Learning Garden
September 16 – Bulbs for All Seasons

Each of the programs in The Learning Garden will be announced individually through this blog and on our website two weeks before each program.  Each announcement will include instructions on how to register. Mark your calendar and register to attend as many as you can.

Saturday Seminar: Pruning Tools Workshop—Tool Selection and Sharpening
Feb 17 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am
NC Cooperative Extension Buncombe County Center

Presenters: Alan Wagner and James Wade, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers

Gardening tools are key to successful pruning. You need the right tool for the right job, and you need to correctly maintain those tools. Are you sure, for example, when to use your anvil pruners or your bypass pruners instead? This workshop will cover the different kinds of pruning tools, their uses, and their care as well as gardening tools like shovels and hoes. Ergonomic pruners and other tools will also be covered.

Bring your pruners, loppers and shovels to learn how to clean and sharpen them.

Freedom and the Frontal Lobe
Feb 17 @ 7:00 pm
Upward Seventh-day Adventist Church

In this seminar we look into the fundamentals of bad habits and how to overcome them. How are habits formed, and how can they be changed? Many struggle with a variety of habits ranging from anger, lack of forgiveness, lust, addictions to substances, repetitive unhealthy thoughts and a host of other vices. In this seminar we look at scientific, health, and Biblical principles that aid in the victory over habits. Presented by Chad and Fadia Kreuzer. Chad and Fadia share seminars on health, the Bible, and overcoming habits. They have taught in Europe and throughout North America.
REGISTRATION IS NOT REQUIRED.

Saturday, February 18, 2023
Gardening Video: Cool Cover Crops
Feb 18 all-day
online

 

 

Flowering Buckwheat

 

Gardening in the Mountains presents:
Cool Cover Crops

Presenter: John Bowen, Extension Master Gardener VolunteerSM

Master Gardener and long time cover cropper John Bowen will help you pick a cover to match your needs, space and schedule.  He will discuss the pros and cons of several crop choices for WNC gardens and help you make a plan to maximize the benefits of creative cover crops.

Video access:
To access this video on the Buncombe County Master Gardener website, click on the link below:

                                                                           Cool Cover Crops

Or go to www.buncombemastergardener.org , click on the ‘Gardening Videos’ tab at the top of the page, and select the video from the list provided.

Gardening Video: Garden Conifers and Evergreens
Feb 18 all-day
online

Presenter: Bruce Appeldoorn – Appeldoorn Landscape Nursery

Bruce Appeldoorn, a life-long nurseryman and the owner of Appeldoorn Landscape Nursery, will share with us some of the best conifers for Western North Carolina gardens. You will see his favorite low-maintenance, long-lived choices based on his 45 years of nursery experience.

Journeyperson Program NOW FREE! 12-Month Farm Support Cohort
Feb 18 all-day
Organic Growers School

The upcoming Journeyperson course is now available AT NO COST! Due to some timely grant funding, we can offer this in-depth farmer training for farmers in years 3-7 with no associated tuition fee! The course consists of monthly cohort meet-ups and 2-3 in-depth workshops, plus mentorship!

 

In addition, a select number of participants will also receive matched FUNDS for your farm savings account (Savings Incentive Program) and money to spend on a professional development opportunity of your choosing! Want to attend a workshop on livestock management? OGS will contribute towards that fee! Are you saving money for a farm asset? OGS will contribute up to a certain amount to that investment.

 

The Journeyperson Program is for farmers who have been independently farming for three or more years and are serious about operating farm businesses in the Southern Appalachian region.

Join the Journeyperson Info Session on Zoom!

November 15th at 7:00 pm

Sign up here

Sliding Scale Pricing for Spring Conference 2023
Feb 18 all-day
online

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For the past 30 years, the Organic Growers School Spring Conference has served as a gathering place for growers in Appalachia to connect, learn from one another, and deepen connections to land and community. The Spring Conference began as an entirely volunteer-run and free event and has expanded to support an organization of ten staff with year-round programming. As we have grown, we have experimented with different approaches to keeping the event affordable and accessible while also working on compensation for our speakers and supporting our growing staff. We encourage you to check out our recent blog post exploring this in more depth. This year, we are excited to be experimenting with sliding scale ticket pricing for the first time, and we wanted to take some time to explain how this works and why we decided to implement it this year.

Looking beyond scholarships

Over the past several years, we have started implementing different scholarship options. We have set aside around $3000 in our internal budget for scholarships, and we have increased our outreach to other groups in the area who have funding to support individuals to attend conferences. We also offer work-trade opportunities for people who are interested in helping out with our event in exchange for attendance. We have around 100 work-traders access the conference each year through these opportunities, but we have never used up our entire scholarship fund for the event. We know that there are many individuals in our community that we are not reaching through our scholarship opportunities. We began to wonder if scholarship applications were creating a barrier to participation and started researching other options, landing eventually on sliding scale as our preferred model.

How alternative pricing models address accessibility

The sliding scale model, which offers the opportunity for participants to select a price to pay for their ticket, meets several of the parameters we were looking for in an accessible pricing model. Most importantly, it is a seamless way for attendees to access the price that meets their needs. So many things are means-tested in our society, and it can be exhausting to justify why one needs a more affordable price point. While many of our community members need financial support, there are also members of this community who have more than enough to share and are excited about supporting their fellow co-learners. These attendees can select the higher end of the sliding scale, which will be set at a price to offset the lower price paid by other attendees. We trust our attendees to select the option that best works for them while also considering how their selection would affect the ability of other participants to access a lower price point.

Accessibility is a priority for OGS, and implementing it is a risk for us as a small non-profit, given that we rely on our large events like the Spring Conference to support our year-round programming and staff salaries. This will certainly be an experimental year, and if we are not able to secure enough income through sliding-scale registrations, we will have to rethink our approach to pricing. We trust that our community will be thoughtful in thinking about the value that this conference has to them and about what they are able to pay for at this time. Thank you for being on this journey of discovery with us!

 

Overcoming Stress and Anxiety
Feb 18 @ 9:30 am
Upward Seventh-day Adventist Church

In this seminar we look into the fundamentals of bad habits and how to overcome them. How are habits formed, and how can they be changed? Many struggle with a variety of habits ranging from anger, lack of forgiveness, lust, addictions to substances, repetitive unhealthy thoughts and a host of other vices. In this seminar we look at scientific, health, and Biblical principles that aid in the victory over habits. Presented by Chad and Fadia Kreuzer. Chad and Fadia share seminars on health, the Bible, and overcoming habits. They have taught in Europe and throughout North America.
REGISTRATION IS NOT REQUIRED.

Asheville Celtic Festival
Feb 18 @ 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
WNC Ag Center --Davis Event Center

The Asheville Celtic Festival, a Winter Indoor/Outdoor Celtic Festival bringing the Celtic Spirit of the Seven Nations to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, will be held at the Davis Center at the WNC Agricultural Center giving us a comfortable setting in the winter months.

• Feel the Vibes of Early Settlers from the Celtic Nations   

• Participate in Entertaining Battles and Performances

• Learn About Celtic History and Traditions

• Listen to LIVE Celtic Music

• Explore your Family Background

• See Characters in 1700 Period Dress 

• Shop the Celtic Crafts and Buy a Kilt

• Eat Traditional Foods

• Drink the Stouts & Ales 

• Rest by the Fire 

General Ticket: Advance: $24

Save by purchasing in advance, tickets will be $28 at the door.

General Ticket: Children 12 and under: $8

Same price at the door. Ages 4 and under get in free.

Whiskey Tasting Ticket: $45

Tasting includes 3 Scotch Whiskey Single Malts and 3 Irish Whiskies = 6 drams. (This is an add on purchase to any admission ticket or ticket package) All participants must be of legal drinking age and check in for proper wristband.

Royal Pass: $95

Includes Festival Entry.

– Royal Premier Seating

– Two Buffet Style Meals served at 12:30 pm & 5:30 pm

Lunch:

 

  • Scotch Eggs
  • Guinness Beef Stew
  • Mac and Cheese Pie
  • Holiday Salad
  • Bread Rolls

 

Dinner:

 

  • Scottish BBQ
  • Shepherds Pie
  • Peat Smoked Haggis
  • Corn Casserole
  • Caesar Salad
  • Bread

 

– Two Drink Tickets

– Access to Royal Court Full Bar

– Rest Room Convenience

NOTE: Royal Pass only eligible to patrons over 18 years of age.

Royal Overnight Package (Double Occupancy): $495

2 Royal Pass tickets / 1 room with 2 queens or one King bed

– All benefits of Royal Pass (see above)

– Two Nights Lodging at Courtyard by Marriott

– Friday Evening Reception 7 pm to 9 pm in Hotel Lobby Suite

– Shuttle Service to Festival

NOTE: Royal Pass with Lodging packages are refundable 60 days in advance ONLY by contacting the event organizer.

RV Overnight Package / 2 nights: $175

New for 2023!

– Water hook up and Sewer hook up with 50 Amp service

– 300’ feet from Davis Building Venue

– Includes (2) General Admission Tickets

Note that tickets are non-refundable 7 days prior to the event. 

Victory in the MInd
Feb 18 @ 10:45 am
Upward Seventh-day Adventist Church

In this seminar we look into the fundamentals of bad habits and how to overcome them. How are habits formed, and how can they be changed? Many struggle with a variety of habits ranging from anger, lack of forgiveness, lust, addictions to substances, repetitive unhealthy thoughts and a host of other vices. In this seminar we look at scientific, health, and Biblical principles that aid in the victory over habits. Presented by Chad and Fadia Kreuzer. Chad and Fadia share seminars on health, the Bible, and overcoming habits. They have taught in Europe and throughout North America.
REGISTRATION IS NOT REQUIRED.

Free Pilates Class
Feb 18 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Pack Memorial Library

Join Alexis from Cisco Pilates Asheville for a free Pilates mat class! The class is beginner friendly. This will be offered in-person at Pack Library or from the comfort of your own home. You choose!

To register for the in-person class, please use the registration option on this calendar entry. To register for the online class, visit ciscopilates.as.me…

These classes are offered to the public free of charge, sponsored by the Friends of Pack Library.

We will have some yoga mats on hand for the in-person participants, but feel free to bring your own equipment and water bottle!

If you have any questions, please call Jen at 828-250-4700 or email [email protected].